Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Khitan Ancient Tomb

Running around for several days was very tiring for me who was used to leisure, and I could barely hold on during the day. At this time, lying on the sheepskin blanket, I felt sore and dizzy.However, he couldn't fall asleep anyway, and there was always an inexplicable fear in his heart, or a premonition—something terrible was about to happen. I kept tossing and turning until midnight, and at least I felt sleepy. At this moment, someone suddenly patted me on the shoulder and pulled me up abruptly.It's so strange, I followed that person in a daze, completely unresponsive. Outside the felt bag, a round of bright moon illuminates the sky and the earth into a vast expanse of whiteness.The guide took rhythmic steps, bypassed the stone statue, and walked towards the hill unhurriedly. I stepped on his footprints and followed him like a sleepwalker. There was no ups and downs in my heart, as if everything was expected.

The two walked towards the forest one after the other. At this time, the surroundings were as quiet as death, except for the "rustling" sound of stepping on the weeds. Under the moonlight, this strange scene was like "Hustle corpse in Xiangxi". The man quickly took me to the mountain forest, and after bypassing two "Shenmen trees", he suddenly disappeared, disappearing among several boulders like a ghost. I just came back to my senses a little bit, and looked at the pile of stones in a daze.Strange!This pile of rocks is as tall as a person, why didn't I notice it during the day?Is it blocked by trees and weeds, or is it an angle problem?Suddenly, a few white lights shot out from the gaps in the stone pile, and then, a creepy laughter came from inside... Is it the guide?I ran over in a trance, and saw a small hollow formed by gaps at the bottom of the messy stone steps. Outside, he was grinning sinisterly, so wretched that it made people feel creepy.How could it be him—Old Joe?

Old man Qiao squatted motionless, still laughing mechanically.I took a step closer, and at this moment, the inexplicable sense of fear surged out of my heart again, and it became stronger in an instant, as if I was surrounded by lonely ghosts, they were peeping in the dark, ready to strike at me... Suddenly , the old man’s face changed, “shatteringly”—starting from his forehead, a series of sharp wrinkles appeared suddenly, then spread to his cheeks, and a thick beard grew out of his bright chin... Finally Become a kind uncle. I stared at this scene dumbfounded, my head was blank, but my heartbeat was uncontrollably accelerating, but before I could react, something even more terrifying happened - I saw Uncle Houdao collapsed on the ground with all fours , with his torso straightened up, his head raised upwards, and he roared at me with his teeth, his appearance was clearly that of a gray wolf...

"Hi! What's the matter with you?" A sudden shaking woke me up, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Uncle Hou Dao's wrinkled face full of vicissitudes, and I rubbed back like an electric shock. "Are you sick? You're sweating profusely..." Uncle Wang came over and touched my forehead, "If you don't have a fever, it must be a nightmare, right?" nightmare!right!The scene just now was just a nightmare.I woke up suddenly, and looked at Uncle Hou Dao with lingering fear. He was looking at me with disdainful eyes, and was a little embarrassed for a while.

... At this time, the dawn was just emerging, and after drinking a bowl of white bean soup, the four of them put on their tool bags and strode towards the hill, preparing for a preliminary survey of the Khitan tomb.Uncle Wang explained all the way, as long as the location and area are recorded, it must be completed before noon, so as to catch the train back to Beijing tomorrow afternoon.While speaking, they came to the place suspected to be the Khitan tomb, and everyone stopped and began to divide and cooperate. Although it is my first time to participate in archeology, I still have a clear understanding of the process of using the "remains of rice cultivation" for surveying. The information is very detailed - one person stands on a high place to visually observe the starting point of suspicious rice cultivation, and directs the people below Mark the piles, and finally connect the points with white lime, so that the distribution of the rammed earth can be drawn, and the tomb can be found.

Uncle Wang was of course in charge of directing. He lit a cigarette, and after puffing out the clouds, he ran up quickly.Holding a stick of wood, Wei Jianguo and I stood in front of two "Shenmen trees", waiting for him to give orders. Taking advantage of this free time, I once again looked at this evil place full of evil spirits. Suddenly, a pile of rocks above caught my sight. run over. I couldn't help being stunned on the spot when I saw this, there was really a hollow formed by gaps in front of my eyes, and the hollow stretched all the way down. Under the morning light, it seemed dark and bottomless.I poked my head in tremblingly, and after my eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, I realized that the hole was actually very shallow, only two meters at most. However, I was still shocked, because there was actually a stone pavement connected to the bottom of the hole. secretly.

"Everyone, come and see, there is a breach." I called out loudly, excited but also a little scared, and the weird scene in the dream reappeared in my mind, what exactly does this mean? "What's the situation?" Wei Jianguo was the first to arrive. He was taken aback for a moment, then adjusted his camera and took pictures step by step from far to near, methodically and calmly. After a while, Uncle Wang also ran down and arrived at the same time as Uncle Hou Dao. The two subconsciously looked at each other, stopped at each other, and turned their gazes to the faint entrance of the cave.

"The traces are very fresh, and the soil at the edge is still wet. It probably happened last night." Uncle Wang said with a serious face, and suddenly turned his head to ask Uncle Hou Dao, "Have any strangers been around here recently?" "Do you suspect it's a robbery hole? I don't think so. The hole is between two stones. How could the grave robbers dig it here? It's laborious and dangerous. Besides, there's not a single bit of soil outside...it must have collapsed naturally! " What Uncle Hou Dao said seems to make sense, but in fact it is not. Anyone who is familiar with Liao tombs knows that the Khitan people often leave a small stone tunnel at the entrance of the tomb, which is called "Ming Road".Although these "underworld roads" are hidden, they are the closest to the ground, which is a failure. If you encounter a courageous veteran tomb robber, you will definitely choose to start from this place, so that you don't need to dig deep, and the soil will fall into the tunnel and die. If you don't stay outside, just like the current situation...

From the moment I discovered Shenmenmu, I knew that Hou Daobo was an expert, but at this time he made a judgment of "natural collapse", which is indeed suspicious. What is he hiding? Uncle Wang was clearly aware of it, but he didn't bother with the problem any longer. He pulled out the flashlight from his waist, slowly lay down on the edge of the hole, looked at it for a while, then raised his head and said to Wei Jianguo, "This hole is not deep. I'll go down and look at it." Look, you have set up the rope ladder." "Let me go down! Maybe the person who dug the hole is still below." Facing the legendary Khitan tomb with countless dark objects, I couldn't hold back.

"No! You are still inexperienced." Uncle Wang cast a grateful expression, he must have thought that I was thinking about his safety. Without saying a word, Wei Jianguo tied the rope ladder to the tree next to him, threw the other end into the hole, and then squatted by the hole to prepare to respond. This nerd is very agile.Uncle Wang didn't hesitate, grabbed the rope with one hand and the flashlight with the other, and slipped cautiously into the cave. In fact, this hole is really shallow, and the depth of the corridor is only three meters. Uncle Wang reached the end in a few steps. He was not in a hurry to move forward, but stopped at the same spot, looking back and forth with a flashlight. .Suddenly, he stopped shaking, as if attracted by something in front of him, and then his figure disappeared into the darkness.

"There is a situation, maybe I saw the funeral objects." I squatted next to Wei Jianguo, deliberately looking for something to chat, knowing that this guy is a "boring guy" and I can't talk about anything, but the atmosphere is too depressing. "No! This is just a corridor, and there is a door-sealing stone separated from the tomb!" Uncharacteristically, Wei Jianguo actually talked to him with a rare excited expression on his face. He must have been deeply attracted by this ancient tomb. "What do you think it will be like?" I continued to look for topics, and my old habit of talking too much when I was nervous broke out again. "In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, the ones with corridors must be Liao tombs, and they will be similar in shape to Tang and Song tombs." "So sure? Maybe it's the Han people living here! For example, Zhong Xingyue, Li Ling... and the princess who got married, these people are also capable of building such a large tomb." I don't even know what I'm talking about, but Wei Wei Jianguo's answer surprised me—— "The Han people pay attention to feng shui, who would choose such a lifeless burial?" It's unbelievable that this nerd, as an archeology expert, actually knows how to check the door and feel the pulse.It seems that the few people on this trip are not idle people.Thinking of this, I subconsciously looked at Uncle Hou Dao, but he had disappeared.Where did he go at the critical moment? At this time, Uncle Wang appeared at the bottom of the cave again. He climbed up with a face full of joy, adjusted his glasses, and said excitedly: "There is a corridor below, which is only about ten meters long. It can be determined to be the 'Road to the Underworld'. This gap It’s just right, it’s only one step away from the stone door of the tomb, I checked just now, and there is no trace of being stolen.” "Since there is a breach, we can justifiably dig it out!" I urged without losing the opportunity. "Well! But it will be very dangerous. The entrance to the tomb is just under this pile of stones, and the burial layer of the road to the underworld is very shallow. It is a big move to pry open the stone door, which may cause a chain collapse... It is a problem!" "So the pile of stones is not natural, but an anti-theft mechanism?" I was secretly surprised. I thought that there was a problem with the site selection of this tomb. It's arranged, and it's quite secretive. "We can only remove the stones first." Wei Jianguo said solemnly: "I don't think it's difficult, these stones are not too big, we can use the slope to pry them to roll down the slope, and then remove this section of topsoil. Cut it open, it's safe." "What I'm afraid of is that it will collapse if you move it, and even the entrance will be blocked." Uncle Wang shook his head, lit another cigarette, and lowered his head in meditation while smoking. At this time, the morning light has begun to become hot, and it is very uncomfortable to cast it on the body through the not dense branches and leaves. What is more depressing is the dull atmosphere of the scene, as if shrouded in a cloud. There was a faint sound of horse bells in the room, and I knew it was Uncle Hou Dao without thinking about it. The sound of his horse bell with four corners was so special. Everyone turned their gazes down the slope, and after a while, Uncle Hou Dao led his horse and appeared among the weeds and trees, slowly, as if he was strolling in the garden.Why did he bring the horse up?I looked at the horse's back and saw that there were several bundles of thick ropes on it, as well as two large shovels and crowbars.Is it necessary to use horses to pull the stone away?Suddenly, I remembered Uncle Wang's description of him - Uncle Houdao is simply a wolf, an old wolf with an extremely sensitive sense of smell. ... "Why are you sitting bored, is there a problem?" Uncle Hou asked in a loud voice as soon as he approached. After Uncle Wang introduced the situation, he curled his lips, stroked his beard and said, "If it weren't for the rules, we can start from other places , now I can only clean up the rocks first, I said try it! If it collapses, it will collapse! It’s better if it’s blocked, and you can organize people to dig it later!” "Just do it. I'm afraid that people and stones will fall." In fact, Uncle Wang had this intention a long time ago, so he was scruples about it. "This is not a problem. We can use horses to help pull it, which will also reduce the vibration to the topsoil. Besides, the width of this road to death is not very large, as long as it is moved vertically to this range." Uncle Hou Dao's words were like a shot of chicken blood, and everyone became excited again, and immediately assigned work.Uncle Wang first marked the general direction of the Ming Road with the method of vertical wooden strips. When I saw it, I couldn't help being a little shocked. The Ming Road happened to follow the hillside from bottom to top. If we used Wei Jianguo's method to roll down the stone just now, it would definitely cause a chain of events. Collapse, the consequences will be disastrous. After figuring out the location of Ming Road, everyone gathered around the stone pile, cleared away a few smaller stones, and then tied the two largest ones with thick ropes, and the horse-drawn people dragged them out of the range of Ming Road.Although the process was frightening, everything went smoothly.The next step is to shovel off the layer of topsoil on the top of the entrance to the tomb. Uncle Wang was already out of breath, so he took Uncle Hou Dao to hide aside to rest, but Wei Jianguo was still full of energy, picked up the shovel and walked along the route marked by wooden sticks Excavation must be to let the topsoil naturally sink into the road of death!This is the smartest way, it saves effort and is fast, I praised it in my heart, and went to the other side of Ming Road to dig the soil. Not long after, there was a muffled bang, and a whole piece of topsoil tens of centimeters thick fell into the road of death. A gust of wind mixed with damp and decaying smell rushed out, and the entrance of the tomb was cut open like this.As the musty smell gradually dissipated, an arched stone door was exposed to the sun. I have to admire the person who dug the hole, his accuracy in finding the hole and identifying the location is amazing, almost facing the door of the tomb.At this time, Wei Jianguo frowned, showing a puzzled look, looking at the gloomy Shimen and muttering to himself: "It's really strange. It is said that the tombs of Khitan nobles should be the same as those in Tang and Song Dynasties. They all use door sealing stones. Why is there just one door?" The so-called door-sealing stone is a huge stone that seals the entrance of the tomb. It is commonly known as the "Dragon-breaking Stone", which means that the owner of the tomb will be separated from Yin and Yang, and it also has the function of protecting the tomb. This was the most popular in the Tang and Song dynasties. "The pile above is nothing! It's just cracked." I joked, but I knew very well in my heart that there must be danger hidden in it.Among the family books is "Breaking the Ground and Opening Caves", which specifically describes the various traps and tricks in the tomb. The book repeatedly articulates a point of view-"There is no reason to increase, and there is no reason to decrease." Like this, the entrance is not even sealed. There must be more vicious institutions in the tomb. I couldn't help but carefully looked at this weird stone door. I saw that this one-meter-high stone door was extremely smooth, without any painted seals, and there were no attachments such as buckles. is a wall. At this time, Wei Jianguo had already jumped off the Ming Road and walked straight to the front of the stone gate.As a senior archaeologist, he certainly understood the hidden risks, so he didn't dare to move. He just tilted his head, put his ears on the door, pulled out a small hammer from his waist, and gently knocked on the door. . I knew that he was using the echo to test the thickness of the stone gate and the reality inside, but it was such a hammer, but it made a sharp sound, as clear as a dragon's chant breaking jade.The sound lasted endlessly, echoing repeatedly along the stone walls of Ming Road, and gradually amplified, and soon turned into an ear-piercing hum... Wei Jianguo couldn't bear it for a while, and subconsciously covered his ears. not good!Hired.I suddenly remembered what was recorded in the book, a mechanism that uses sound resonance to activate, and the environmental conditions in front of me just fit this layout-the Minglu formed a resonance box, and the sound waves were constantly reflected and superimposed inside, and then matched with the door leaf that emitted the sound. It resonated again, and finally produced a strong vibration, which dislocated the stone tenon stuck on the top of the door, thus triggering the mechanism... At this time, the only way to stop it was to stick the whole person to the door leaf and calm it down as soon as possible. However, This may trigger another mechanism, and besides, it is too late in time.I had no choice but to yell and throw the rope ladder in front of Wei Jianguo, hoping to pull him up as soon as possible. Just as Wei Jianguo grabbed the rope ladder, the stone door suddenly creaked open, and a gust of fine yellow sand poured out. About three or four seconds later, the doors on both sides suddenly fell outward, and a large amount of sand poured out like a tide. With a strange humming sound, Wei Jianguo passed by in an instant, and filled the entire Ming Road along the slope. I was dumbfounded by this scene, and hurriedly pulled the rope ladder on the ground. After a lot of effort, I could faintly see Wei Jianguo's shaking head.It's too thrilling!Fortunately, this section of topsoil was cut open, otherwise, let alone saving lives, it would be difficult to even collect the corpses. At this time, I was full of doubts. Although the principle of sound resonance has been studied as early as the Han Dynasty, and there is a record of the experiment of "temperament examination of sound" in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", there are very few people who use it to create tricks for the tomb. Few, the reason is that the precision requirements are too high, and it is beyond the reach of ordinary people.And this difficult layout happened to appear in this Khitan tomb. The owner of the tomb is so omniscient, could there be a difficult enemy? I also think of the tomb of Li Zhi in Dabagou. In order to deal with the thousand-year-old Rouzhi, he set up three seven-star arrays in a row. The Khitan tomb in front of him is also full of traps. It is stealthy and has a wider killing area.Then use the quicksand layout, I'm sure, if the stone pile was not removed just now, the shock wave of the quicksand would also make it fall, and no one on the entire road of death will survive. "Who told you to go down on your own?" Uncle Wang rushed over with rare anger on his face. Seeing that Wei Jianguo was still half buried in the sand, he quickly helped pull the rope ladder. "With so much sand, there must be a big hole in it, so be careful of the second collapse." Uncle Hou Dao said with a stern expression. "Hmm! Not only is it dangerous, but the amount of work is huge. It's best to report to the superior first, and wait for the reorganization of personnel before digging." "No! This path of death extends downward along the slope, and the sand will not flow back. It is not difficult to clean the entrance. Give me half a day, and I will make sure it will be opened." Wei Jianguo rushed to say, coughing continuously. Sha Sha, although he looked embarrassed, had a look of resignation.I expected that this nerd would not stop there. After all, he is an expert with many battles and participated in the excavation of Mawangdui, but now he has been bruised and swollen by a "quick sand trap". Looking at the fine yellow sand that filled the pit, Wei Jianguo stood up abruptly, tied the rope ladder around his waist without saying a word, twisted the shovel and jumped into Minglu again. I hurried down to help, being so active, I was moved by his persistence, and I wanted to find out sooner, and the most important thing was that I was afraid that Uncle Wang would retreat again, so this trip would be in vain. ... Under the scorching sun, the two buried their heads in shoveling the ground. Fortunately, there was no more sand pouring out of the entrance. After being tired for a long time, the pile of sand under their feet gradually became shallower, and the stone door that was washed down was also exposed.At this time, I was already sweating profusely, and my shoulders were so sore that they were almost numb. Seeing that the entrance was about to be opened, I suddenly heard Uncle Wang shouting from above: "Slow down, and pay attention to whether there is an epitaph." Epitaph!How could I forget? According to the burial customs of Liao tombs, a stone tablet is usually erected at the entrance to record the biography of the tomb owner. Call this a "cemetery".Because these contents are true and reliable, they can not only be used to determine the age of the tomb and the identity of the owner of the tomb, but also provide important clues to understand the folk culture at that time, and some can even be archived as historical materials.And this stele is also very important to tomb robbers, it is related to the value of the stolen artifact, so the epitaph stele has always been the first choice for people from all walks of life. After cleaning the fine sand at the entrance, the entire arched tomb door is exposed to the sun.Although the inside was gloomy, everyone present became excited, because what they were about to face was a rare Khitan noble tomb, and it was intact.Wei Jianguo couldn't hold back for a long time, so he used a flashlight to peek inside... However, what everyone didn't expect was that there was a wooden door in the dark depths. Wei Jianguo still had lingering fears about the adventure just now, so he didn't dare to enter rashly, and looked at Uncle Wang with questioning eyes. "You two take a break, I'll go in and take a look first." Uncle Wang threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, put the archaeological tool bag on his back, and slowly climbed down the road of death along the rope ladder. At this time, who still wants to rest? As soon as Uncle Wang stepped into the stone gate, Wei Jianguo followed him in. I hesitated, picked up the shovel and followed. Because it had been buried underground for a long time, it was extremely cold inside, and the air was very turbid, with a unique earthy smell.Uncle Wang was in front with a flashlight, watching every step he took from top to bottom.Following the beam of light from the flashlight, I could see clearly that it was a dark room nearly ten square meters in size. There was a layer of fine sand on the ground, and the top was covered with round holes. If there was a slight vibration, sand grains would fall from it. Presumably those holes lead to places where the sand is stored. When Uncle Wang fixed the beam of light on the wooden door, I saw a brass lock that looked like new. Is it because it has been soaked in dry fine sand all year round?Uncle Wang took another step forward, staggered suddenly, my heart shrank suddenly, but I heard him exclaim: "There is something in the sand, it may be an epitaph." "Epitaph!" I glanced at the ground, and under the light of the flashlight, there was a little edge of something like a slate.Wei Jianguo reacted very quickly, rushed forward quickly, scratched in the sand with his hands, and quickly cleared out a stone tablet lying flat, which was as big as a newspaper. "Take it outside." Uncle Wang was so excited that he waved his hands wildly, and the light beam of the flashlight also shook, flashing and flashing, which made the already gloomy dark room even more terrifying. "Wait, will it be another agency?" Wei Jianguo was still a little scared. "Probably not, I bumped my foot just now, and nothing happened." Hearing what Uncle Wang said, Wei Jianguo and I were a little relieved, and we worked together to lift the stele out of the dark room and put it outside in the sun.Uncle Wang started from the bottom with a brush and gently swept away the fine sand on the surface. Soon, a vivid wolf head pattern was revealed... Why is it this wolf head again?There was an inexplicable feeling in my heart, this totem was like a ghost, and it was like a shadow. From the main hall of the Baishi Mountain King's Tomb, the wolf fur map in the bedroom, to the Khitan epitaph in front of me, it has a ghostly figure. I swallowed a mouthful of phlegm dryly, and turned my gaze back to the stele. At this time, Uncle Wang had cleaned up the fine sand and was stroking the words on it while chanting.Suddenly, his fingers brushed two very familiar characters, and I leaned forward like an electric shock. There was no mistake, these were the big Khitan characters that appeared on the wolf fur map, and I could recognize them even when turned into ashes. It means "ancestor" and "holy place". "Is it the epitaph? What's written on it?" Uncle Wang just finished reading it, and I couldn't wait to ask. "It's so strange! I've never seen such an epitaph. There is no family background, official position, or life story engraved. There is only a sentence of 'ten thousand households in the city'." "That should be the tribal leader." "Hmm! The strange thing is here. There are generally well-documented characters like this, but the following name has never appeared." "What's your name?" Wei Jianguo rushed to ask, his expression more nervous than mine. "Read it as Yelu Canglang." Uncle Wang adjusted his glasses and said blankly: "Yelü is the royal surname of the Khitan people in the Liao Dynasty, but it says 'The Holy Land of the Ancestors is at the Boletu River in Jinwei Mountain', isn't it? Muyeshan Old Hahe? What's going on?" Suddenly, Uncle Wang held my hand tightly, and said in a low voice: "The same sentence was written on your map. It is definitely not a coincidence. Think about it carefully and see if you can draw it. Maybe there is a person buried in it." Shocking secret." I can feel the palms of Uncle Wang sweating and trembling. This reaction is a bit exaggerated. The more it is like this, the more important I feel that the wolf skin map is very important, and the place marked with black dots is the most important. , it cannot be easily said without figuring out what the annotation means. "Oh! I remember that there is such a wolf head on that map, and the words I wrote for you last time. The rest are just a few thick lines. I have forgotten how to draw it." "It's such a pity!" Uncle Wang shook his head, showing his disappointment. "This is obviously a gray wolf." Wei Jianguo added, "This kind of wolf has long been extinct. It is characterized by a bulge on its forehead, which is a unique totem of the Huns..." "Don't go too far, it's getting late, hurry up and take pictures of the stele, and I'll take a record." Wang Shuyan interrupted, took out his notebook and prepared to make a mock-up, but Wei Jianguo's words caused waves in my heart—why? Are the Mongolian tombs and this Khitan tomb related to the Huns?The more I thought about it, the more chaotic I became. I raised my head and took a deep breath. I happened to be facing Uncle Hou Dao. I saw him sitting lazily on it, smoking a dry cigarette leisurely, with a look of indifference to the world.